UC, CSU Weigh Tuition Increases

The University of California and California State University could soon raise tuition for the first time in six years. Both are weighing hikes of almost three hundred dollars next fall.

“We are already in a very tough situation financially, most college students overall, people who don’t come from very privileged backgrounds,” says Dilpreet Sahota, who is studying biology at UC Berkeley.

Sahota wants to become a family doctor in the Central Valley, where he grew up. Besides class and extracurriculars, he works 15 hours a week on clinical research. He points out that a generation ago, a working person could afford tuition while in college.

“That is completely unrealistic in today’s day and age,” Sahota says, “and I think it’s very unfair as well.”

The universities say enrollment is way up, and they need money for more courses and more instructors.

If approved early next year, the increases would be the first since the UC and CSU agreed to freeze tuition in exchange for boosts in state funding in a deal with Governor Jerry Brown. Both systems discussed the move at budget meetings this week.